'Split nights' with 2-3 hours wake time...HELP!!

My DD (17 months) has been going through a phase of sleeping for 5 or 6 hours after going down for the night then waking at anywhere between midnight and 2am and is then WIDE awake for a couple of hours before drifting off. It’s been the odd occasion but past week or so it’s gotten more frequent. How do I ‘fix’ this?!

I realise it’s her age/teething/developmental and will probably pass but man alive it’s horrific in the meantime so I’m wanting to try see if tweaking the routines helps any.

So anyone have any good tips on things they’ve tried with the 2/3 hour wakenings? I’d love a few ideas.

Background info:

My DD naps for up to 2 hours normally between 11-1 but this is getting later as she’s been funny at refusing naps and wanting a carry on. Bedtime for falling asleep is roughly 7:30 with 30 mins either side being a possibility for eyes shut. She wakes 6:30-7

Really would like some advice on sleep times and amounts for her age...

I think this is more of a timing issue than anything else. Your split night suggests over tired - so more sleep needed over 24 hours.

At 17 months I would still be aiming for 2 nap days, with at least 45 minutes at 9am and then 2-3 hours at around 1pm. Some at this age might be aiming for a single lunchtime nap, but that would want to be around 3 hours, say 12-3pm.

While you're having these night wakes, toddler beds more-than-normal sleep somewhere. If you don't think you will get two naps then do an earlier bedtime. But my preference would be 2 nap days. Then on nights where she has slept better and not woken, on those days miss the morning nap and go for a single lunchtime nap.

For comparison, at 17 months my DD was sleeping 9-11am and 1-3pm then 8pm-7am sleeping through. Now, at 3 years old, she sleeps 12-3pm and I wake her, she would sleep longer. Then 7.30pm-7.30am night. My daughter would have been exhausted on only 2h daytime sleep at the age of yours.

Thanks Fate. She’s never been a long napper and has been on one nap since 13 months! Not ideal but it’s been one longer nap for a long time now and she’s been ok it just seems to be recently. I agree it’s timing issues for sure but when I try to bring bed time forward she’s just not going to sleep until bang on 6.5 hours after she last woke. It’s bizarre. I’ve been trying to stick to the 7:30 ish bed time and so trying to ensure nap is 11 to 1 but with the later wakings in the morning (closer to 7) this isn’t happening! She’s giving signs of wanting to sleep at 7ish but not before. I’ve also found anything over 2 hours during day means she won’t fall asleep easily at night even though she’s tired and trying to if you see what I mean. Sorry for the war and peace essay length here!

Hi there I know it's been a while since you posted this just want to know how you got on? What did you do to fix the split night issue if all going ok now.I'm currently on 4/5 months worth of this now and completly had enough it's killing us both! She's just gone 17 months some nights will stay awake for 4 hours. Please help!

How long has it been going on for? Things like this always end up being a phase. Have you read up about the 18 month regression, I’ve heard it’s the worst! Could be that early, I’d say get some early nights where you can until it passes.